Brand New at this, first attempts...

[airhead]

If you can find them, Reaper has a line of brushes - black handles - that are sable. Not quite as good as W&N or Rosemary, but better than craft store. Priced also in-between.

Nuf said.

As to the mini.
Black & white are fun, but most old bones are kinda beige. Try a brown wash instead of the black to impart an old skeleton feel. Try a red wash to impart a 'new' skeleton feel.
Red eyes are cool. But don't overlook blue or green ones.

In short, play with it some.

Now to the sword.
Metal has to be highlighted and shadowed much like your other colors. Add a bit of black to a drop of the silver to paint the shadow areas. Similar with a bit of white in the silver for the highlight.
I'm not going to make you a great painter with these suggestions, but it will move you ahead of the "one area - one color" guys and get you to thinking of shadows and highlights.

Basing.
I'm not a fan of the gravel, but it is easy and works. A bit of matt varnish would help what you done there a bunch.
I'd go with a finer sand to replicate a gravel base.
Simply painting flagstones on the base is an option as well.
Static grass is a quick effect as well, but we don't often fight on the lawn.
The most realistic look comes from a mix: bits of grass growing out of the flagstone gaps, etc.
Tip: Don't glue the mini all the way onto his base. Leave his feet up just a bit so he's walking ON the base instead of sinking IN it.

You're miles ahead of where I started and have a great bunch of guys here that will help.
Welcome.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Sorry but that is a misconception.
Fine quality brushes behave far differently than El-Cheapo brushes and there are marked differences with the handling and paint flow between GW, Army Painter, Daler, Winsor & Newton, Rosemary & Co and Da Vinci.
Having the best tools you can afford makes the learning process easier, plus if you invest in good tools you tend to maintain them properly.

Again, no offence but its not a misconception.. That's just your opinion.!

Nope its 40 years of experience with modelling paintbrushes, as well as Woodworking tools, Mechanics tools and Camera's.
You buy the best you can afford, maintain them properly, they last and work correctly and help you do the job right.

 

[Stilton]

I think you missed what I meant a little, my analogy was to an electric hand blender ...

I did, but i was being lighthearted and the analogy wasnt really important, nor fitting in my opinion..

A more fitting one is to use fishing, or horticulture or another hobby where you can go out and get lots of expensive gear and goto specialist forums...

On those forums, there will be experts with top of the line gear, they will advise you, you need it... But if you dont have the basic knowledge its a waste and if you havent perfected skills to gain benefit from using expensive tools.. You might as well use industry standard 'decent' tools that get the job done.. [ For the specialists on the forum, the tools may indeed be necessary/neccesities NOW.. But no-one 'just getting into' the hobby.. Needs top of the line equipment from the get-go (imo, from my experience) ]

There is no reason why brand new painters should have to mess up their brushes in order to learn not to do it again, when people can impart their knowledge in places like this.

Again, this i just dont agree with... Because its academic and not experience... One your learning through other peoples experiences, one from your own.. Personal experiences have more resonence with me when i'm learning things.. Again, i can't speak for everyone.

People can tell you to look both ways before you cross the street but the one time you ALMOST get hit by a car... it really sinks in how important it is.. and for years after the one-time you almost got run over you will most definately look both ways, remembering back to that.. and not your road safety or whatever it is...

Nope its 40 years of experience with modelling paintbrushes, as well as Woodworking tools, Mechanics tools and Camera's.
You buy the best you can afford, maintain them properly, they last and work correctly and help you do the job right.

Experience, is not a universal law... And whilst i agree with what your saying, because its really logical to me.. Your still missing out the first stage where you get your training on training tools...
Are you saying you bought the best you could afford before you knew how to use them? I bet they lasted a while


Either way this is getting to be a bit of a waste of my time, opinion is opinion, fact is fact.. 2 people can be right in their own eyes and both be wrong.. I'm not here to change anyone else opinion, just save someone wasting time, money and tools...
..Which seems moot now because he bought them anyway! Best of luck lol

 

[Kevzilla666]

Welcome to the insane world of miniature painting! Paint brushes can be expensive, but you can find decent priced sets of brushes at Michael's, Blick, and other local art/craft stores. You're just starting out, & really don't need high priced brushes at this time. Go look at some of the lower priced sable & synthetic brush sets, not the super cheapo sets at places like Walmart, Target, or Sam's Club. Michael's & Blick have coupons for 40% and 50% off all the time. Just get a set, or two and use these brushes to get comfortable with the basic painting techniques. You can use an airbrush to prime your miniatures, but its usually better to just buy some spray primers to use. If you have used and airbrush before, then you know that there is a lot of cleaning involved, and you can't spray a primer straight out of the bottle unless you thin it out. You can use Krylon Spray primers, they are cheaper than the miniature company brands. Just shake/mix them very well and spray from a distance of 9-12 inches from the miniature(s) this way, you shouldn't overcoat them.
Hope some of this helps. Happy Painting!

 

[RuneBrush]

A more fitting one is to use fishing, or horticulture or another hobby where you can go out and get lots of expensive gear and goto specialist forums...

On those forums, there will be experts with top of the line gear, they will advise you, you need it... But if you dont have the basic knowledge its a waste and if you havent perfected skills to gain benefit from using expensive tools.. You might as well use industry standard 'decent' tools that get the job done.. [ For the specialists on the forum, the tools may indeed be necessary/neccesities NOW.. But no-one 'just getting into' the hobby.. Needs top of the line equipment from the get-go (imo, from my experience)

The key word there is expensive - a good quality brush isn't expensive in the same way as a top of the range fishing rod or whatever. And I use the words good quality brush rather than the most expensive you can buy (which I would imagine is made from a virgin's hair with ebony wood handle and solid platinum ferrule).

People can tell you to look both ways before you cross the street but the one time you ALMOST get hit by a car... it really sinks in how important it is.. and for years after the one-time you almost got run over you will most definately look both ways, remembering back to that.. and not your road safety or whatever it is...

But you're advocating that you should mess up your first brushes to learn not to? As a child I was told not to put my hand in a fire because it would hurt - I've never had the urge to test that theory out.


I think it's probably best to just chalk this discussion down to a difference of opinions!

 

[Stilton]

But you're advocating that you should mess up your first brushes to learn not to?

No. seriously, that's what you got from what i was saying? - Damn, just when i thought i had articulated myself.



I'm talking about the concept of experiencing something first hand over academics leaving more of an impression - i am not advocating people go out and ruin brushes for 'the experience'.




As i've said... Its an individual thing, how we learn... each individual learns more effectively through different methods.

Personally speaking, manual repetition of tasks, and the added dissapointment of loss do help solidify memories for me...
So, continually cleaning brushes and having one go L-shaped when i leave it in water (experience), teaches me far better than all the experts on forums telling me i shouldnt do something... (academic)





Finally, putting your hand in a fire to check that fire is really hot.. [seriously? Your comparing 2 things one where personal injury and pain are the drawback, the other is.. You'll be down £4, and also you're (i assume, maybe) a grown up now? ]

Well done sir, you've shown that Academic learning does have its benefits -- Not that its a more effective way of teaching.




Nah you're right.. Lets chalk this up to a difference of opinion before people start being condescending!


In the unlikely event i haven't alienated everyone out there, what i was originally trying to say was... Personally, i couldnt learn 'respect for the tools' academically - and whilst i understand everyone is different -i find it hard to believe someone new to the hobby is not going to acidentally ruin expensive tools through carelessness... was just trying to save him some money.

 

[ced1106]

Old thread, but, as a fellow n00b, I started with craft paints and cheap brushes.

However, if I had to do it again, I'd just start with the Reaper Learn to Paint Kits. $25 gets you 8 paints, two sable brushes, two mini's, and instructions. Reaper will be re-issuing the paint kits with Bones miniatures in December, and you can get these kits for $20 plus shipping at the OLGS.

When Reaper said the paints would be pushed to March, I ended up resetting my pledge manager and not buying the paints.

eBay is good for bulk miniatures to practice on. HeroQuest and Battle Masters are decent sculpts, originally by Citadel. D&D Miniatures and Mage Knight are prepainted, but you can still practice techniques on the miniature, and strip them entirely.